MR. GRACIE: About 30; 27 of the crew and 3 passengers.
SENATOR SMITH: We are very much obliged you to you. That is all. Your pictures are here with Senator Fletcher.
TESTIMONY OF MRS. HELEN W. BISHOP.
The witness was sworn by the chairman.
SENATOR SMITH: What is your full name?
MRS. BISHOP: Mrs. Helen W. Bishop.
SENATOR SMITH: And what is your address?
MRS. BISHOP: Dowagiac, Mich.
SENATOR SMITH: You were on board the Titanic on this ill­fated voyage?
MRS. BISHOP: Yes.
SENATOR SMITH: Did anything in particular occur to attract your attention to the ship or any special feature of the ship while you were en route from Southampton to the place of this accident?
MRS. BISHOP: We thought of nothing at all except the luxury of the ship; how wonderful it was.
SENATOR SMITH: I wish you would tell the committee what you did after learning of this accident.
MRS. BISHOP: My husband awakened me at about a quarter of 12 and told me that the boat had struck something. We both dressed and went up on deck, looked around, and could find nothing. We noticed the intense cold; in fact, we had noticed that about 11 o'clock that night. It was uncomfortably cold in the lounge. We looked all over the deck; walked up and down a couple of times, and one of the stewards met us and laughed at us. He said, "You go back down stairs. There is nothing to be afraid of. We have only struck a little piece of ice and passed it." So we returned to our stateroom and retired. About 15 minutes later we were awakened by a man who had a stateroom near us. We were on B deck, No. 47. He told us to come upstairs. So we dressed again thoroughly and looked over all our belongings in our room and went upstairs. After being there about 5 or 10 minutes one of the men we were with ran up and spoke to the captain, who was just coming up the stairs.
SENATOR SMITH: Who was the man?
MRS. BISHOP: Mr. Astor.
SENATOR SMITH: Col. Astor?
MRS. BISHOP: Yes. The captain told him something in an undertone. He came back and told six of us, who were standing with his wife, that we had better put on our life belts. I had gotten down two flights of stairs to tell my husband, who had returned to the stateroom for a moment, before I heard the captain announce that the life belts should be put on. That was about three or four minutes later that the captain announced that the life belts should be put on. We came back upstairs and found very few people up.
SENATOR SMITH: When you say upstairs, which deck do you mean?
MRS. BISHOP: We were on B deck, and we came back up to A deck. There was very little confusion; only the older women were a little frightened. They were up, partially dressed. So I sent a number of them back and saw that they were thoroughly dressed before they came up again. Then we went up onto the boat deck on the starboard side. We looked around, and there were so very few people up there that my husband and I went to the port side to see if there was anyone there. There were only two people, a young French bride and groom, on that side of the boat, and they followed us immediately to the starboard side. By that time an old man had come upstairs and found Mr. and Mrs. Harder, of New York. He brought us all together and told us to be sure and stay together; that he would be back in a moment. We never saw him again. About five minutes later the boats were lowered, and we were pushed in. At the time our lifeboat was lowered I had no idea that it was time to get off.
SENATOR SMITH: Tell me which lifeboat you refer to?
MRS. BISHOP: The first lifeboat that was taken off the Titanic on the starboard side. I think it was No. 7. Officer Lowe told us that.
SENATOR SMITH: All right. Proceed.
MRS. BISHOP: We had no idea that it was time to get off, but the officer took my arm and told me to very quiet and get in immediately. They put the families in the first two boats. My husband was pushed in with me, and we were lowered away with 28 people in the boat.
SENATOR SMITH: Was that a large lifeboat?
MRS. BISHOP: Yes; it was a wooden lifeboat.
SENATOR SMITH: And there were 28 people in it?
MRS. BISHOP: Yes. We counted off after we reached the water.
SENATOR SMITH: How many women were there?
MRS. BISHOP: There were only about 12 women.
SENATOR SMITH: And the rest were­­
MRS. BISHOP: [interposing]. Were men.
SENATOR SMITH: Yes; but I want to divide the rest into two classes, the crew and the passengers.
MRS. BISHOP: There were three of the crew. The rest of them were passengers. We had no officer in our boat.
SENATOR SMITH: Three of the crew?
MRS. BISHOP: Three of the crew.
SENATOR SMITH: And 13 passengers?
MRS. BISHOP: Thirteen passengers; yes. Among those there were several unmarried men in our boat I noticed, and three or four foreigners in our boat. After we had been out in the water about 15 minutes ­ the Titanic had not yet sunk ­ five boats were gathered together, and five people were put into our boat from another one, making 33 people in our boat.
SENATOR SMITH: Do you know from what boat these persons were transferred to your boat?
MRS. BISHOP: No; I can not say. The man in charge was an officer with a mustache. I have never seen him since.
SENATOR SMITH: Did the boat from which these people were transferred seem to have more people than yours?
MRS. BISHOP: Yes, sir; they had 38, I believe; or 37 or something like that.
SENATOR SMITH: Do you remember the number of the boat?
MRS. BISHOP: No; I do not.
SENATOR SMITH: Go ahead.
MRS. BISHOP: We had been rowing for some time when the other people were transferred into our boat. Then we rowed still farther away, as the women were nervous about the suction. We waited out in the water perhaps three­quarters of an hour after we had rowed this distance when we saw the Titanic sink. For some time after that we were separated from all of the boats except one; that tied to us and stayed with us. We found we had no compass, no light, and I do not know about the crackers and water; but we had no compass and light. We were out there until just before daylight, I think it was, when we saw the lights of the Carpathia and rowed as hard as we could and arrived at the Carpathia 5 or 10 minutes after 5 o'clock in the morning.
SENATOR SMITH: I suppose your experience was the same as that of the others as to the presence of ice and your proximity to icebergs?
MRS. BISHOP: Yes; we saw a number of icebergs.
SENATOR SMITH: Is there anything else you care to say which will throw any light upon our inquiry as to the causes of this catastrophe or the conduct of the officers and crew of the Titanic?
MRS. BISHOP: The conduct of the crew, as far as I could see, was absolutely beyond criticism. It was perfect. The men in our boat were wonderful. One man lost his brother. When the Titanic was going down I remember he just put his hand over his face; and immediately after she sank he did the best he could to keep the women feeling cheerful all the rest of the time. We all thought a great deal of that man.
SENATOR SMITH: What was his name?
MRS. BISHOP: I do not know. He was on the lookout immediately after the boat had struck.
SENATOR SMITH: Was it Fleet?
MRS. BISHOP: No; it was not.
SENATOR SMITH: Was it Lee?
MRS. BISHOP: I do not think I ever heard his name. I know the name of one man in the boat was Jack Edmunds; I think it was.
SENATOR SMITH: That was this lookout?
MRS. BISHOP: No; the man at the other end. They were great friends, I remember.
SENATOR SMITH: Is there anything else you care to say?
MRS. BISHOP: No; that is all.
SENATOR SMITH: Very well; you may be excused.
Witness excused.
TESTIMONY OF DICKINSON H. BISHOP.
The witness was sworn by Senator Smith.
SENATOR SMITH: Will you state your full name?
MR. BISHOP: Dickinson H. Bishop.
SENATOR SMITH: And your residence?
MR. BISHOP: Dowagiac, Mich.
SENATOR SMITH: What is your business?
MR. BISHOP: The manufacturing business.
SENATOR SMITH: What is your age?
MR. BISHOP: Twenty­five.
SENATOR SMITH: Mr. Bishop, can you add anything to the statement Mrs. Bishop has made?
MR. BISHOP: I do not think I can.
SENATOR SMITH: Is there any information beyond that which she has given which will throw any light or contribute to our investigation?
MR. BISHOP: There is one thing, in regard to the water­tight compartment on E deck.
SENATOR SMITH: You may state it.
MR. BISHOP: It has to do with the mechanical closing of them. Some way or other, it had a brass plate in the deck, and from what I know ­ I do not know from my own observation, but only from what I have heard from some other people I knew on the boat ­ immediately after the accident they saw the members of the crew trying to do something to these holes in the deck with a key such as they use in the shut­offs to the water system in cities, and placing the key down there, they failed to turn the one on that side, and they immediately went to the other side and could not close that. They said, "There is no use; we will try the other side." What it was or how serious it was I do not know.
SENATOR SMITH: Did you notice any other defects of any kind?
MR. BISHOP: Not any. Leaving the boat as soon as we did, we had very little opportunity to observe what happened on the deck after the first lifeboat left.
SENATOR SMITH: This plate to which you have referred to was in the floor of E deck?
MR. BISHOP: In one of the passageways.
SENATOR SMITH: In the floor?
MR. BISHOP: Yes.
SENATOR SMITH: On E deck?
MR. BISHOP: As I understand it, yes, sir; or else on the wall.
SENATOR SMITH: You say the crew could not turn this bolt or­­
MR. BISHOP: Whatever it was; the shut­off.
SENATOR SMITH: And what did they do when they found it could not be turned?
MR. BISHOP: One of the members of the crew, who was engaged in trying to turn this, said to the other one, "It is no use; we will try the other side."
SENATOR SMITH: What member of the crew was that, if you know?
MR. BISHOP: I could not answer that correctly. I do not know. As I said, my information came through other people, passengers.
SENATOR SMITH: From what you saw of that, do you know whether this had to do in any way with the efficiency of the water­tight compartments?
MR. BISHOP: Only in that the plates were marked­­
SENATOR SMITH: [interposing]. "W"?
MR. BISHOP: With "W.T.": or "W.T.C." The letters "W.T." I remember particularly.
SENATOR SMITH: How long were the members of the crew trying to turn this plate or bolt?
MR. BISHOP: I do not know.
SENATOR SMITH: Do you know the name of the person who saw the attempt made?
MR. BISHOP: Mr. Hardy.
SENATOR SMITH: What are his initials?
MR. BISHOP: George A.
SENATOR SMITH: And what is his address? Is it the Grosvenor, 27 Fifth Avenue, New York?
MR. BISHOP: That is correct.
SENATOR SMITH: Who told you to get into the lifeboat?
MR. BISHOP: One of the officers in charge of lowering; which one, I could not tell. There was some confusion there at the time, and I did not pay much attention. There was an officer stationed at the side of the .lifeboat, and as my wife got in I followed immediately, and he helped me into the boat, or rather indicated, and I fell into the boat.
SENATOR SMITH: Did Mrs. Astor get in the same lifeboat?
MR. BISHOP: No; she did not. I did not see Mrs. Astor except on the A deck earlier in the evening.
SENATOR SMITH: What time?
MR. BISHOP: Just before the order to put on the life belts.
SENATOR SMITH: After the collision?
MR. BISHOP: After the collision.
SENATOR SMITH: Did you see Col. Astor about that time?
MR. BISHOP: I did not.
SENATOR SMITH: Do you know in which boat Mrs. Astor left the Titanic?
MR. BISHOP: I do not; no.
SENATOR SMITH: Did you know anything about the people in your boat, except yourselves? Did you know any of them except your wife?
MR. BISHOP: Yes; the French aviator ­ they called him "Marshall" ­ was in our boat. I could not pronounce his name.
SENATOR SMITH: Anybody else?
MR. BISHOP: Mr. Greenfield; with his mother, living in New York.
SENATOR SMITH: Did anyone attempt to get into your lifeboat, either while it was being lowered or after it was in the water?
MR. BISHOP: There was a little confusion on the deck at that time. No one used the boats, at all.
SENATOR SMITH: How long after the impact was it before the order was given to lower the lifeboats or clear the lifeboats?
MR. BISHOP: I did not hear the order given.
SENATOR SMITH: Did you hear anyone give any warning, or did you hear any alarm given to waken the passengers after the impact?
MR. BISHOP: I did not hear any alarm. The alarm we had was from another passenger, a friend of ours on the ship.
SENATOR SMITH: What was his name?
MR. BISHOP: Mr. Stewart. He was lost.
SENATOR SMITH: Do you remember his first name?
MR. BISHOP: His initials were "A.A." Mr. A.A. Stewart of New York.
SENATOR SMITH: And he did not survive?
MR. BISHOP: He did not.
SENATOR SMITH: Did anyone attempt to get out of your lifeboat after it reached the water?
MR. BISHOP: No.
SENATOR SMITH: Do you agree with your wife that there were 28 people in your lifeboat?
MR. BISHOP: That was what the count was, after we took it.
SENATOR SMITH: Did you count them?
MR. BISHOP: Each passenger was supposed to have counted one number, starting in the bow and going back.
SENATOR SMITH: That is, they started with one to count, and it ran up to 28?
MR. BISHOP: Yes, sir; but there were some I know who were missed, and there is a possibility of there having been more people in that boat at the time. It was very difficult to take the number correctly on account of the scattered position of the passengers.
SENATOR SMITH: Were there any children in that boat?
MR. BISHOP: There was a woman with her baby transferred from another lifeboat, I think.
SENATOR SMITH: That is, after you reached the water.
MR. BISHOP: After the Titanic had sunk.
SENATOR SMITH: After the sinking?
MR. BISHOP: Yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Can you tell how long it was after you left the side of the Titanic before she sank?
MR. BISHOP: I can not tell, exactly. I imagine the time the boat was lowered was about a quarter to 1, and the only information I have as to the time of the sinking comes through the reports, that it was probably in the neighborhood of 20 minutes after 2.
SENATOR SMITH: Do you know, of your own knowledge, that lifeboat No. 7, in which Mrs. Bishop and yourself left the Titanic, was the first boat lowered on the starboard side?
MR. BISHOP: It was. We had been on the boat deck in the neighborhood of 10 minutes, watching them prepare the boats for lowering. At that time there were very few people up on deck, and from the testimony I have heard, and from what I have heard, it seems there were a good many people who did not get onto the boat deck until after they had started lowering the boats.
